Apply for Brownfields Grant Funding

ANNOUNCING (New) Request for Proposals - FY 2017 Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grant Guidelines
These grants are provided to eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, to develop environmental programs that recruit, train, and place unemployed and under-employed residents of communities affected by brownfields and other environmental contaminants with the skills needed to secure full-time, sustainable employment in the environmental field and in assessment and cleanup work taking place in their communities. Each Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) grant may be funded up to $200,000 over a three year period. The proposal submission deadline is February 24, 2017. All proposals must be submitted through grants.gov.

Webinars to Assist in Preparing FY17 EWDJT ProposalsTo assist applicants with their proposals, EPA held two webinars for prospective grant applicants on January 10, 2017 and January 12, 2017. Both webinars covered the same content. Due to technical difficulties, only the January 12, 2017 recording is available for playback and can be accessed by going to http://epawebconferencing.acms.com/p85i6yns93r/.

Presentation slides and the question and answers received during both webinars can be accessed here.

The EPA is announcing $1 million in a grant to provide support state implementation support related to CERCLA 128(a). The EPA anticipates award of one cooperative agreement to support state implementation for CERCLA 128(a) and other brownfields related issues. The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to fund research, training, and technical assistance to promote and stimulate information exchange among State officials managing solid, hazardous and brownfields response programs (response programs), and EPA officials to jointly resolve Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Section 128(a) “co-implementor and co-regulator” issues, and identify emerging response program issues that are of interest to States. The maximum amount for the cooperative agreement is $1,000,000. The proposal deadline is January 31, 2017.

The EPA Office of Brownfields & Land Revitalization (OBLR) has extended the FY17 Brownfields Assessment and Cleanup Grant proposal submission deadline from December 20, 2016 at 11:59 PM ET to December 22, 2016 at 11:59 PM ET in order to accommodate the scheduled www.grants.gov server maintenance occurring from Saturday, December 17, 2016 at 12:01 AM ET until Monday, December 19, 2016 at 6:00 AM ET. The www.grants.gov system will not accept application submissions while the server is down for maintenance. For additional information, please visit www.grants.gov.

Additionally, OBLR revised two areas of the Evaluation Criteria in Section V. of the Assessment Guidelines. Specifically, criterion V.A.1.b.iii. has been revised to clarify that proposals will be evaluated on the identification of prioritized sites; not how the sites will be prioritized. Criterion V.A.3.a. has been revised to clarify that proposals will be evaluated on the community engagement activities in the target area; not the whole community.

Finally, OBLR included an Other Factor on communities that have experienced natural disasters in 2012 or later in Section V.B. and Appendix 3.

These Brownfields grants may be used to address sites contaminated by petroleum and hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum). The proposal submission deadline is December 22, 2016.

Funding Opportunities:

Assessment Grants (funded over three years)Community-wide or Site-Specific Applicants: Applicants may apply for up to $200,000 in hazardous substances funding or up to $200,000 in petroleum funding.

Community-wide Applicants: Applicants applying for both hazardous substances funding and petroleum funding may request a combined total up to $300,000; however the request for hazardous substances funding or petroleum funding cannot exceed $200,000 for any one individual type of grant funding. For example, an applicant may apply for $200,000 in hazardous substances funding and $100,000 in petroleum funding.

The EPA is announcing $2 million in a grant to provide technical assistance to tribal communities.
The EPA anticipates award of one cooperative agreement to support tribal communities addressing Brownfields related issues. The cooperative agreement awarded under the Technical Assistance to Tribal Communities Addressing Brownfields announcement will help tribal communities tackle the challenge of assessing cleaning up and preparing brownfield sites for redevelopment. The focus of the technical assistance will focus on the following subject areas: Developing a forum to share ideas and support the development of training and peer network learning related to Brownfields; Assisting tribes in understanding and building Tribal Response Programs; Providing science and technology related assistance to Brownfields assessment, remediation, and site preparation; Helping tribes develop integrated approaches to brownfield cleanup and reuse; and Helping tribes develop brownfields financial and planning strategies. The maximum amount for the cooperative agreement is $2,000,000. The proposal deadline is October 31, 2016.

ANNOUNCING New Request for Proposals- FY 2017 Brownfields Area-Wide Planning (BF AWP) Grant Guidelines
EPA is announcing the availability of funding to eligible entities who wish to develop an area-wide plan for brownfields assessment, cleanup, and subsequent reuse. This funding is for research and/or technical assistance activities directed to one or more brownfields site(s) located in a specific area (such as a neighborhood, downtown or business district, local commercial corridor, community waterfront or city blocks). Each project funded under this grant must result in an area-wide plan which includes specific plan implementation strategies for assessing, cleaning up, and reusing the brownfields site(s) as well as related brownfields and project area revitalization strategies. EPA anticipates awarding approximately 20 projects in total, funded at up to $200,000 each. The proposal submission deadline is August 10, 2016.

Please note that applicants who received a BF AWP grant from EPA in Fiscal Year 2010, 2013 or 2015 (FY10 or FY13 or FY 15) are generally not eligible to apply under this competition. EPA is making an exception for POWER+ (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) applicants. The POWER+ Initiative is an Administration priority that started in FY16 and continues through FY17. A POWER+ applicant must propose one or more eligible catalyst, high priority brownfields site(s) within the same Brownfields project area as a coal-fired power plant that has recently closed (2008 or later) or is scheduled to close.

FY 2016 Funds to Supplement Eligible Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Grants
EPA is announcing the availability of an estimated $8 million in FY 2016 funds to supplement eligible Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grants. Grants eligible to request supplemental funds are Brownfields RLF grants that have been previously awarded competitively under Section 104(k)(3) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or that have transitioned to Section 104(k)(3) of CERCLA, and subject to other identified criteria (see links below). Requests for funding must be postmarked by April 25, 2016. Specific information on eligibility and criteria for submitting a request can be obtained by contacting your EPA Brownfields Coordinator listed in the Federal Register Notice (see link below).

The EPA is announcing $11 million in grants to provide technical assistance to communities. The EPA anticipates award of up to 11 cooperative agreement(s) – one grant covering each EPA region and an eleventh grant covering the entire nation. Grants awarded under the Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities (TAB) announcement will help communities tackle the challenge of assessing, cleaning up and preparing brownfields sites for redevelopment, especially underserved/rural/small and otherwise distressed communities. Technical assistance being provided through this grant will be geared toward results and help communities within their respective regions to move brownfields sites forward in the process toward cleanup and reuse. The maximum value of each grants will be based on the technical assistance being provided; however, grants in any one geographical area will not exceed $1,000,000. The proposal deadline is December 21, 2015.

ANNOUNCING New Request for Proposals - FY 2016 Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Guidelines
These brownfields grants may be used to address sites contaminated by petroleum and hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum). Opportunities for funding are as follows: Brownfields Assessment Grants (each funded up to $200,000 over three years; Assessment Coalitions are funded up to $600,000 over three years), Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund Grants (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years), and Brownfields Cleanup Grants (each funded up to $200,000 over three years). The proposal submission deadline is December 18, 2015.

ANNOUNCING (New) Request for Proposals - FY 2016 Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grant Guidelines
These grants are provided to eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, to develop environmental programs that recruit, train, and place unemployed and under-employed residents of communities affected by brownfields and other environmental contaminants with the skills needed to secure full-time, sustainable employment in the environmental field and in assessment and cleanup work taking place in their communities. Each Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) grant may be funded up to $200,000 over a three year period. The proposal submission deadline is January 14, 2016. All proposals must be submitted through grants.gov.

Webinars to Assist in Preparing FY16 EWDJT Proposals
To assist applicants with their proposals, EPA held two webinars for prospective grant applicants on December 2, 2015 and December 10, 2015. Each webinar was the same presentation, however, questions received varied between the two:

Getting Started Preparing Your ARC Proposal Early
We receive numerous inquiries regarding preparation of proposals for the Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grant competitions every year. Some applicants find it difficult to prepare their proposals in only 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows from publication until the proposals are due. However, there are still many activities that applicants can perform in advance of the RFP (commonly referred to as the ARC Guidelines) being made publically available. We have outlined many of these activities in the attached document. We hope that using this list to get started preparing your ARC proposal early will facilitate your efforts in the preparation of a thorough, thoughtful, timely, and most importantly, successful proposal.

Getting Started - Preparing Your Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Grant Proposal
Some applicants find it difficult to prepare their grant proposals within 60 days, the typical amount of time the Request for Proposals (RFP) allows until the proposals are due. However, there are several activities that applicants can perform in advance of the RFP being made publically available. Potential applicants for our Brownfields Area-Wide Planning grants can get a head start with proposal preparation by familiarizing themselves with the document below, discussing possible projects with local partners and stakeholders, pulling together important information, and working with their local Brownfields contacts to resolve any questions about brownfields site eligibility. We hope this information will help applicants prepare a thorough, well-organized, and timely proposal.